The Darkened Blade -prelude to The Fallen Blade
by UmbreonxGlaceon
Summary: "The darkness silently swirls around me. My body aches all over. Where am I? How long have I been here? This place seems, familiar. Have I been here before? This feeling of loneliness. I've felt it once before. Yes. Back then. I remember now. Who I once was…"
A young boy was running around an open field, enjoying the cool summer air. He seemed, at first, to be playing by himself. But the boy claims he is playing with his friend. Everyone around him brushed it aside as a child's imaginary friend, but the boy knew better. For the longest time, young Tengan Toyokazu was different from other children his age. He could see things. Things no one else could see, but him. Tengan could see the spirits of the dead and even converse with them. They kept Tengan company and played with him when bored. Life was rather pleasurable for him.

Fast forward five years. twelve year old Tengan stands in front of two marked graves. His mother and father lay dead in the ground before him. A terrifying creature killed them in front of him. There was nothing he could have done but run for his life, the creature close behind him. He still doesn't understand why the creature choose to let him go. One moment it was chasing him. The next it was gone. Vanished from existence. Or at least that's what what Tengan thought. Tengan would spend the next year at an orphanage until being adopted by a loving family.

Age nineteen was when his life crumbled. Tengan was walking home from his day at school. The clouds looked heavy. Rain was sure to come soon. He arrived at the front door to find it broken down. A scream echoed from inside, bringing Tengan rushing into the house. The sight before him was horrifying. Blood. Blood was spilled all over the walls of the living room. His foster dad's bodies laying across the ground. Then the scene grew more gruesome. The sound of flesh and bones crunching brought worse chilled down Tengan's spine. It was coming from the kitchen. Against every part of his body telling him to run, he ventured into the kitchen to find a horrid creature devouring his mother. It turned it's head towards him, quickly rushing in front of him. Tengan fell back, staring up at the creature. It pulled back it's claws, thrusting them at Tengan. He turned his head, shielding his eyes with his arm. He expected the end to come, but nothing happened. He slowly uncovered his eyes to find the creature was gone. Once again this has happened. Tengan slowly stood up, relaxing a bit knowing that he was still alive. He went to leave the house when a sharp pain struck him in his chest. He looked down at his chest to see a broken chain attached there. The chain was quickly eating itself and before he knew it, the entire chain was gone, leaving a hole in the center of his chest. The pain intensified, bringing Tengan to his knees. The air began to vibrate. He screamed in pain as it felt like his body was melting away. His world turned dark.

" _The darkness silently swirls around me. My body aches all over. Where am I? How long have I been here? This place seems, familiar. Have I been here before? This feeling of loneliness. I've felt it once before. Yes. Back then. I remember now. Who I once was…'"_

A light shined within the darkness. It seemed to beckon Tengan to go towards it. He reached out for it, getting encased in a blinding light. It faded and he found himself in an alleyway. The rain was falling hard across the area. "Where. Where am I?" Tengan glanced at his arm, finding that it was pale white, a red line running from his shoulder to his wrist. Sharp claws replaced his fingers. The same was true about his other arm. His legs were in a similar fashion. He rushed over to a puddle of water and saw that a white mask covering his face. Tengan fell back in shock. "What. What's going on? What am I?" Tengan cried out, letting out a loud roar. He fell silent, confused as to what the hell was going on. A strong feeling came across him suddenly. A feeling of hunger. It quickly began tearing at his mind. "So. Hungry. Must. Eat." Tengan stood up and rushed off, seeing where this feeling would take him.

He quickly realized that no one else around him could see him. That was a relief. He'd hate to be seen in such a creepy form. His speed and physical strength were far greater than it used to be. Within moments, he arrived in a small park. There Tengan found a young boy running away from a creature similar to what had attacked him twice already. A feeling of rage stirred within Tengan, bringing him to rush straight towards the two of them. The boy panicked seeing another creature rushing towards him, ducking down and hoping someone would come and save him. To the boy's surprise, the other creature went right passed him, gripping the first creature by the neck. Tengan squeezed his hand around it's neck, digging his claws deep into it. The hunger inside him grew more. "Begone you beast!" In one sudden moment, the creature began to fade. The hunger within Tengan died down a bit and he felt a bit, more powerful. What was going on? Did he just absorb that creature? As well as its power, Tengan also seemed to have absorbed the knowledge this creature had. "So. Is that what I am now?" He looked over at the boy. A chain hung from his chest. "So you died too? That is sad to know. Go on kid. Get out of here. More might be coming." The boy did not argue, running away from the area. "This has been a very strange turn of events. If I'm just like that other hollow, then why do I not want to eat that kid? I still feel like myself. Just inside a boney body. Interesting." Tengan rushed off, not knowing that the entire event had been witnessed by someone.

"What do we have here? I'm going to need to report this to the head captain." The figure turned, vanishing into the shadows. Without Tengan even knowing, the Seireitei began keeping an eye on his movements. His actions were a real startle to them. He was the first hollow who appeared to still have complete control over itself and actually went after other hollows instead of human souls. The more stranger part was the fact that he didn't kill the hollows he ran into, but instead absorbed them into himself.

It's been a month since all of this started and Tengan had absorbed at least fifteen other hollows. He's also noticed that he was being watched. On multiple occasions, he saw a figure watching him from a distance. Most likely the Seireitei trying to decide whether or not he was a threat. It was only a matter of time before they chose to intervene. Either way, Tengan was rather content ridding this place of hollows. There was just this nagging feeling each time he absorbed a new hollow. It was strange, but Tengan put the thought to the back of his mind each time.

The rain was pouring down hard. Tengan had just caught wind of a nearby group of hollows and was in full pursuit. These together would be the twenty-fifth hollow he would have absorbed. He located the hollows and quickly moved in. Word of Tengan's actions had reached even Hueco Mundo, putting quite the demand on his head. The moment he came into view of the hollows, they attacked him all at once. However, Tengan needed only to wave his hand to the side and the hollows were threw against the wall. "Really? I thought you guys would be a tab bit more powerful. Oh well then. I'll make this quick." He jolted towards the nearest hollow, piercing it's chest with his hand. The absorption came fast and he moved along to the next one. The others chose to run, but didn't get very far. None of the hollows from the group made it out of the area. Tengan relaxed himself, leaning against a wall, looking up at the falling rain. "You know it's very rude to watch someone from a distance. Why don't you all come out you I may meet you." He smirked as a whole squad of soul reapers appeared around him. "I was wondering when you guys were going to meet me in person. How may I help you?" His calm tone seemed to upset one of the soul reapers who quickly drew out his sword.

"Sheath your sword. You have no chance at taking him. Though it would be an interesting experiment" A strange looking figure emerged from the among the others, a white uniform top blowing in the storm's winds.

"A captain? Don't I feel honored. How may I help you?"

"So you even know about captains? You are a very interesting specimen indeed. I am Mayuri Kurotsuchi. Head captain of Research and Development. I would really like to examine you dear hollow."

"Tengan."

"Excuse me?"

"The name's Tengan." He pushed off the wall, calmly walking over to the captain.

"I see. So my dear. Would you be willing to take part in a few, possibly deadly experiments?" Kurotsuchi smirked towards Tengan.

"I see no reason not to trust you. And besides. It would look very bad on me if I ended up killing a whole squad of soul reapers plus a captain. I will follow you Mayuri Kurotsuchi. I myself am rather curious about my current position."

"A very wise decision. Follow me Tengan." Kurotsuchi turned, opening a senkaimon back to the Seireitei. "Oh. There's one more thing I almost forgot to mention. You can't come back with us in your current position. We are going to have to restrain you." Around seven or eight soul reapers surrounded Tengan, quickly restraining him with kido, Tengan lowering his power so that they didn't need to work so hard. With that all done, they escorted him through the senkaimon. Even more soul reapers awaited him when he got through.

"So this is the Seireitei. Quite the lovely place. " It was hard to say if the soul reapers were more scared that there was a hollow near them or the fact that it acted so calmly around them. The air vibrated a bit an elderly figure approached the restrained Tengan. "From the weight of your spiritual pressure, I'd say you're the one in charge here. Right?"

"That would be true. I am the Head Captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. And you are Tengan Toyokazu am I right?" He nodded, lowering his head in respect. "You seem rather calm despite your current location. Why is that?"

"I have reason to fear you guys killing me. It would free me from this curse. That would be the greatest thing you guys could do for me. Now if you excuse me Head Captain. I have an appointment with Kurotsuchi. And he doesn't look like the patient type." That comment brought a smirk to Mayuri's lips.

"Very well. Be careful Captain Kurotsuchi. I will want a full report of everything you find out."

"Whatever. I just hope he can live through all the experiments. Come on men. Bring him to my lab." Kurotsuchi walked off towards his lab, followed by his men and Tengan. The next few days were filled with the captain trying multiple things to find out why Tengan still had control over himself after becoming a hollow. The results shocked the captain. "Interesting. It appears that the hollows he's absorbed aren't quite gone. They appear to be contained within his body where they are slowly destroyed and used as power. Interesting indeed."

"Captain Kurotsuchi."

"What is it boy?"

"If it's alright with you. could we take a short break? I wish to stretch a bit. I won't leave the room though."

"Yeah. Yeah. Go ahead. Just be quick about it. I still have a few experiments I want to do to you." Tengan nodded, standing up from where he had been laying. The spiritual sensors that were being used to examine him were still attached to his body. Tengan let out a sigh a he stretched out his arms. The captain was at it for hours, experimenting with his body. Though it didn't hurt all that much, his body still felt a bit sore from not moving so much. A sharp pain struck Tengan. He fell forward, now kneeling on the ground. He clenched his chest, almost digging his claws in. The captain quickly looked back at him then back at the screen. The many hollows within Tengan were now becoming highly active. They were trying to escape from his body.

A voice echoed in Tengan's head. "More. Give me more." His body suddenly began moving on it's own, quickly lunging at Captain Kurotsuchi. The voice spoke again. "I need more souls. More power." The captain was about to draw his zanpakuto when Tengan stopped in place.

"Captain. Kurotsuchi. I can't hold. Them back. Anymore." His body turned completely pitch black, hollow energies radiating out of him. The entire Seireitei shook from the sheer spiritual pressure. All the energy stopped in place before converging on a single point in front of Tengan. There it slowly stretched out into a long object. After a while, the energy formed into a katana, its blade as black as the energy that went into it. A white sheath formed over the blade. When the sword was completely formed, Tengan collapsed to the ground. He looked like he did before all of this happened. It appeared as if all the absorbed hollows had left his body and were now within the blade sword in front of Tengan. The head captain appeared in the doorway.

"What happened? What was that spiritual pressure?" He looked down at Tengan, seeing him no longer in hollow form.

"I don't know. I gave him a short break so he could stretch a bit. Then something happened and he went to attack me only to stop right before hitting me. That's when all of the power within the boy started to pour out of him. For some reason, it all converged and formed into that sword." Captain Kurotsuchi pointed at the strange sword.

"Oh. This is most interesting." His eyes fell upon the katana. It's presence seemed to scare him. "I want that sword sealed away immediately and under the highest of all security. No one is to ever come into contact with it." The sword was taken cared of as ordered, placing the strongest seals upon it. "Now what to do with you?" He looked back at Tengan. "What could you have gotten yourself into boy?"

"May I make a suggestion?" A white haired man walked in.

"Jushiro? What is it?" The Head Captain turned to look back at him.

"Well the boy's already dead. And from what I guess from everything that's happened. It might not hurt to make him become a soul reaper. Better than just letting him go about without knowing what he might do. What do you say?"

"I don't know. He might make a strong fighter, but he's still young when it comes to all of this." He fell silent, pondering about what to do. "I will allow this, but you are to keep an eye on him. I have a feeling this boy might be a bit too strong in the end."

"Very well Head Captain."

That was the mark of the first day of the long road that Tengan would have to travel, in order to discover the truth about everything that had happened. The following morning Tengan met Captain Jushiro who told him what was going to happen next. "So I'm going to become a soul reaper?"

"Yeah. The head captain has granted you permission, as well as put me in charge of keeping an eye on you. So that means that you will be sleeping at my squad's barracks until you finish at the academy and get put into a squad. Well that is if they let you into the academy. You still need to take the entrance exam. I'll bring you to the area when you are ready."

"Understandable. Let's get going then. I just hope the knowledge I gained from those hollows will be enough." Jushiro lead Tengan off towards the academy. It appeared that he wasn't the only one trying to get in. There was about forty or so others gathered around the entrance.

"Good luck Tengan. Try your best and don't get too upset if you don't get in on the first try."

"Whatever." Tengan walked off towards the group, waving his hand back at Jushiro. He felt so distant compared to the others around him. If anything, this was going to be an interesting six years, if he got in. An instructor walked out from the academy doors.

"Those taking the academy entrance exam, please follow me now." He turned, walking back inside. Everyone followed after him, Tengan staying a tad bit near the back. The others were gathered in a large room where the seats seemed to be angled downward towards the far end. There everyone took a seat and waited for the exam to begin. The first part was a written knowledge test about the basics of Soul Reapers and what they do. That stuff was easy for Tengan. Everything he needed to know came from the knowledge he had gained from the hollows and a tad bit from Captain Kurotsuchi. The two of them spoke about it while the experiments were taking place. Everyone finished the first part within the hour. The instructor collected our papers instructing us to follow him once more. He lead us to a small courtyard outside. "Okay. Listen up. Gather in an orderly manner and wait for your name to be called. When you hear your name, step forward and exert a bit of your reiatsu." The instructor began calling out names and one by one, everyone around Tengan went up and tried to meet the instructor's standards. Not all of them could exert enough reiatsu, but those who did didn't seem all the impressive. That was until she went up. Her name was Yumi Shiraki. When she went up and exerted her reiatsu, Tengan sensed something from her. Her spiritual pressure seemed no more stronger than everyone else's, but there was something else. Something buried deep beneath it all. A small desire to kill. A feeling that was not all that different from Tengan. He was called up shortly after her. He relaxed his body, closing his eyes. Within moments, his spiritual pressure spiked outward. It was almost twice as strong compared to the others who went before him. The instructors looked at each other. Meaningless to say, out of the forty or so who went to take the exam, only about twenty or so made it in, including Yumi and Tengan who scored high enough to be put in the first class. Also it seemed that Yumi had it in her mind that Tengan was overdoing her, despite her preparation, and secretly made it her job to out do him. So the day ended with those who passed the exam getting their uniforms and heading back to prepare for tomorrow's lessons. Jushiro was partly surprise to find out Tengan made it into the academy. Tengan used the last bit of time he had left that day to try on the uniform. It honestly looked a tad bit lame, but Tengan couldn't really complain. It felt great on him. For once in Tengan's, existence, he wasn't concerned with the people around him dying.

The following morning, Tengan made his way over to the academy. Yumi met him at the doorway to the classroom. She had that usual look in her eyes. That look of a fierce killer. "Morning Yumi. How you doing this morning?" She scoffed at him.

"It's Miss Shiraki to you." Yes. If it wasn't obvious by the way she walked, talked, or presented herself. Miss Yumi Shiraki was from a high class family. She didn't know much about where Tengan came from, but she did know he wasn't high class, which only added to her anger towards him. How could a low class boy could have so much spiritual pressure? "Let's get something straight here Tengan. You don't belong here in the first class. And by the end of these six years, I'm going to prove it to you." A smirk formed from Tengan.

"Is that so? Well then Miss Yumi Shiraki. I'll take those words as the challenge they are. By the end of the six years, the one with the highest grade wins." Tension built up between them. The tension of deep rivals.

"You're on. But I don't plan on losing to you."


End file.
